Dr. Kfir Ben Harush

Kfir received his B. Sc and M. Sc in chemical engineering, and Ph. D in Structural biology from Ben-Gurion University. His Ph. D studies was performed with Prof. Ohad Medalia. During that period, Kfir and colleagues decipher the architecture of nuclear lamin filaments assembled in vitro. Kfir was awarded the Lev Margulis Memorial Prize in the field of microscopy for that work. Currently, Kfir lab uses lamin proteins to build nano- to macroscopic biological materials. Overall, the lab seek to answer the following fundamental questions: What are the structural and mechanical properties of lamin proteins assemblies in health and disease? How does a single point mutation alter the architecture and mechanics of hierarchical structures assembled from nuclear lamins? The answer to these questions has broad ramifications, from a fundamental understanding of structure-function in protein materials to cell nucleus mechanics